Harumi Busujima Case: Chouko Kinoshita
by Patch-insertnumbershere
Summary: Executor Busujima finally has her driver's license back! Too bad there's been no business for the past few weeks. When she and Umekichi overhear a rumour about a house haunted by the ghost of a teenage girl named Chouko and a disappearance occurring, Busujima decides to dive into investigating; however, this case will soon turn a disturbing route. (Warnings inside)
1. Curious Incident

**D**isclaimer: The characters featured in this story obviously do not belong to me. They belong to their rightful owners which includes Yoshiyuki Nishi.

Notes: Another two-year old story that I'm updating as I post each part. There may probably be about seven or eight chapters which I'll have up by this week. As an off-topic comment...M&amp;R should really get some sort of media series (drama CDs, OVA, series); though I'm starting to doubt they ever will. Plus, I'm a little worried it would get a cheap treatment (rushed, 13-episode series)

Anyway, enough of my rambling. I hope you like the adventure of Busujima and Umekichi!

**Quick warning: **Busujima and Umekichi may be a "tad" out-of-character, and this story is definitely not for the squeamish due to possible (but entirely descriptive) gore and mentions of cannibalism.

* * *

When Umekichi and I were visiting the city for some shopping, we overheard a group of kids talking about a house that lived in some sort of suburban area which was apparently haunted by a high school girl. To put things bluntly, they said the ghost ate people. Pretty interesting and a little creepy, but these kids were probably making up this "Chouko" girl…

…maybe.

Since they were in the candy aisle, which was in the same section as the chips, I couldn't help but eavesdrop on them a bit more while Umekichi did the same…as much as he didn't want to admit it once we left the store.

Anyway, they said the reason why she was called "Chouko" was because of the butterfly clip she wore to hold her long, brown bangs out of her emotionless eyes. One of them said she - apparently - _continued_ to eat humans as a ghost because she ate them while still alive.

I heard Umekichi suppress a gulp. He has gotten better with improving his courage, but once in a while, he would still get frightened or worry about something.

"Ume, don't worry," I whispered to him, "it's jus' a rumour."

Another kid said a woman in her mid-forties went into the residence and never came out. Hm…interesting, but…like I said, these kids were - at _least_ \- nine years old. If this whole 'Chouko' thing was true, and that place wasn't bound or shut closed so no one else could go in that house…then that would be a place to check out for myself. Maybe. There wasn't much to do nowadays…

I heard the location of where the exact house is from the kid who started the entire conversation with a bit of an eager interest. Kinoshita residence, huh…?

Before checking out the house ourselves, I decided to search on the computer to see if it's true.

* * *

"Well, I'll be damned..."  
"Boss...? What's wrong?"

"C'mere and look."

Umekichi took a seat beside me on the floor and peered into my laptop's screen. His eyes widened a little just like mine did at the info. There was a photograph of a girl in her early teens - fourteen as the article underneath it said - though I couldn't tell what colour her uniform was, thanks to the picture being black and white.

"Oh, that's why. Obituary."  
"So...they were telling the truth."  
"Looks like it, Ume."

Yep, the kids at the store were right. The young girl in the photo donned a butterfly clip and - thanks to the article - the location of where she lived and eventually died was exactly where the ghost had been seen, along with the disappearance of a woman. I had a feeling that the girl who was smiling in my face might have died for some other reason, but I couldn't be sure about it.

"Chouko Kinoshita, died at age fourteen..." I read out loud with a murmur as I placed my chin into the palm of my hand and rested my elbow on the table, "middle child of the Kinoshita family."

"I'm guessing that this is getting you interested," Umekichi spoke up.

"Yeah, a little. Think this website has more info about her and her family?"  
"Maybe, but...you're not thinking of going there, are you?"

"Yep," I simply replied as I scrolled the page down.

"It's not like anyone's asking us to do this though."  
"I know, but, hey...business is slow; so why not look for the business ourselves? Aren't you tired of staying at home, doing nothing?"

"A little...b-but-"

So, Chouko died last year...interesting. My brows scrunched tightly as I scrolled the page up and down, hoping to find any additional info. I made a small clicking sound with my teeth in disappointment. I shouldn't be surprised that there wouldn't be much else to read in regards to this. Still, this blows. I opened another tab in my web browser and began to search a little more while Umekichi watched me. Nothing else popped up besides the article I was looking at a second ago with other pages about butterflies or movies with the word "chouko" in it.

"Dang." I clicked back to the other page with the obituary and re-read the entire article yet again. "Well, I kinda skimmed over this before," I said, talking about the obituary, "but I think it said something about the mom going missing."

I paused.

"Wait..."

I read the section where I spotted the words "Kinoshita's mother". Sure enough, she was possibly the woman who vanished! But then I read the following sentence and took my assumption back. It said she had went into the house, but she came _out_. The kids probably didn't have their info straight, but that doesn't mean that a person going missing in a haunted house isn't impossible or anything.

"Wow," I heard Umekichi say beside me, his tone sounded a bit sad, "the mom and dad were going through a divorce around the time Chouko died." He sat up as a way to look at the website better. "The mom was later convicted of murdering the dad in a fit of rage, but they let her off the hook while she was on trial."

I frowned. "Huh."

My cell phone suddenly rang.

I reached a hand into my pocket, then I pressed the speaker button and sat the phone on the table. "Hey there, Roji! What's going on?"

"Oh, um, nothing much..." Roji's boyish voice replied. "Well, actually, Busujima..."

"Yeah?"  
"Why are you trying to get into this Chouko Kinoshita thing?"

"Huh?" Umekichi blinked, then he looked over at me. "How did he know?" he whispered.

A light went off in my head. I shot a tiny grin to my buddy and said loud enough for him and Roji to hear me, "Whoops. I forgot I was putting all of my progress with this case down on my blog! Roji has one and follows me on it, so I guess that's how he knew!" I admit that it slipped my mind, probably since I hardly use my social media blog as much as - for example - Roji or Yoichi.

"Boss..." he dragged out the name in a whine, "why are you posting it online?"

"For progress reasons! My handwriting is pretty sloppy now and thought typing it would be better. _Plus_, it's a nice way to give my friends an update on how we're doing."

He immediately frowned and his eyes partly closed.

Roji spoke up again, "Hey guys...are you planning on going there? I hope you don't let this thing over your head, Busujima!"

Umekichi whispered to me, "Notice how he said your name on that part?"

"Noticed," I whispered back. I focused my attention back to the blonde first clerk on the other line of the phone. "I'll try, but this Kinoshita thing is getting pretty interesting for my taste. Besides, business for us has been pretty slow these past few weeks. Dealing with this assumed haunted house might give us something to do. Plus," I added as reassurance for Roji, "I'm an Executor. I'll be able to handle this with no problem, especially when I'll have Umekichi with me!"

"B-Boss..." my assistant blushed a little. I guess he felt embarrassed.

"Don't worry too much, Roji. Don't want ya to get sick and get Muhyo pissed at me."  
"Well...alright."  
"Besides, we're going to visit the house for a brief inspection, _then_ determine if it's actually haunted or not."  
"...okay. Be careful."

I chuckled. He's such a cute worrywart at times. "We will, we will! We've got to go now. Bye, Roji."

After he said a "bye" in reply, I waited for him to hang up. As soon as Roji hung up the phone, I grabbed a notepad, scribbled down the address, and then shut off my laptop. I rose from my spot with Umekichi mimicking my movement; though he looked a bit uncertain about going through with this.

"I was thinking," I said, "if we visited the area, somebody might know more about the Kinoshita family. That should help us..."

"This feels like we should be more of a mystery bureau instead of a Magic Law association..."  
"Yeah...never thought of that. Think we should do that as a side project?"

Soon, the two of us prepared ourselves, gathering any items we could possibly need. Just for the heck of it, I went ahead and brought my laptop to my truck, earning me a look from Umekichi. Sorry, Ume. I'm bringing it along just in case we need it for any sort of help. We climbed inside, then I turned on the engine and then we were off.

**To be continued.**


	2. Article One: Information

**D**isclaimer: The characters featured in this story obviously do not belong to me. They belong to their rightful owners which includes Yoshiyuki Nishi.

Notes: This is where the action slowly starts to rise. By the next chapter (or the one after), things will get a little disturbing. I hope no one will get offended once it happens. Anyway, here's the first chapter...all modified/updated from the two year old original!

Just like the first part posted, Busujima and Umekichi may come off as out-of-character and I deeply apologize for that.

* * *

During the ride to the city where the Kinoshita residence was, Umekichi and I chose to stop by a convenience store, picked up a small lunch, and ate in the truck. Just as I was about to take a bite of my chicken fry that I grabbed on the side, my phone rang yet again. I paused to grab it from my dashboard, then I pressed the "answer" button and the speaker for Ume to listen in.

"Yo! Talk to me!"

"What are you doing this time?" Imai's deep voice sounded in my ear.

"You've been checking my blog out in private, haven't you?"  
"N-no, that's ridiculous. Why would I do that while I'm busy doing things?"

"Imai," I felt myself grin widely as I replied, "the Association's been quiet as of lately, too. I doubt you're honestly doing _that_ much."

She sighed...or was that a huff?

"_Anyway_, about this Kinoshita family that you've typed about on your informal blog..."  
"Yeah?"

"I'll admit that I went ahead and searched for some things in relation to the Kinoshita case."  
"You did?! That's great! What did you find? C'mon tell me!"

Umekichi made an annoyed look at me when I whined that out. "Boss, give her a chance to speak before you start begging..."

"Wasn't begging," I immediately told him in a casual tone.

Imai continued once she knew we were done speaking to each other, "There has been quite a few unsettling things that happened in the Kinoshita home. Besides the murder of the dad by the mother, all three children died one by one."

"Mom still alive?"  
"Yes."

Umekichi questioned, "Did anyone think that the mom might have killed her kids too? W-we saw an article say that charges were dropped for her when the dad died, so..."

"Probably. I've more info about the mom if you want to hear it."

I shrugged, even though she obviously wouldn't be able to see the action. "Sure. We might need it if we meet the ghost or ghosts in the house." Umekichi and I sat back in our seats and opened our ears to listen carefully.

"Well, from the information I've received...the mother was accused of murdering the father over a divorce _and _child custody battle. She had a feeling she was going to lose custody of all three children - Haruko, Chouko, and Kazuki - due to signs of child abuse. These kids had to go to the hospital frequently, which made the father - who was at work whenever these acts of violence occurred - worry constantly."

I frowned at the words.

"I need to let you know, though, that her abusing and murdering the kids were accusations, so I can't confirm it entirely," she added. "As of now, the mom is living in another city."

"Either due to trauma of her kids dying if she _didn't_ kill them," I mumbled, "or the fact that she's getting away before the police get involved if she _was_ the cause of their death and possibly the dad."

"True. Are you still going to visit the place and dig more into it?"

Umekichi glanced at me as his little hands held onto the bento box he was eating from. "Do you think we should?"

"Do _you_?" I asked him. "You have a right to say whether or not you want to go through with this, Ume."

He looked down at his lap, frowning sadly; but then, he lifted his head in order to look at me better and nodded. "Yeah, let's do it. It doesn't seem right to leave this case alone..."

I broke into a smile thanks to Umekichi. "Well then, I agree with your words!" I turned to the phone, saying, "We're gonna go to the Kinoshita place."

Imai responded, "Well, if there's anything there...good luck, you two."

We thanked Imai, and then she hung up on her side of the line. Ume and I finished our lunch while I thought about the information given to us. Looks like this case of curiosity of a rumour by kids of a ghost who ate people to one which could be a lot darker than imagined. I started to anticipate this trip more. I admit - and like Imai said - there's a chance that the home isn't haunted at all; but still, it wouldn't hurt to check anyway. Like I've mentioned out loud...the Magical Law business has been so slow. We might be able to find some sort of action today.

* * *

"The Kinoshita family?"

I nodded.

The old woman who lived beside the former Kinoshita house paused and looked down at her feet, humming to herself in thought. "Why, I remember them...but unfortunately Mister Kinoshita and the children passed on. The mother moved to Osaka, poor woman must have been distraught..."

I held my tongue after the "poor woman" comment since asking her about the abuse being true or not seemed inappropriate.

"Or..."  
"Yeah?"

She told me, "Or maybe she left because of how nerve-wracking the house had become around their deaths."

A-ha.

"What do you mean, madam?" I asked.

She hesitated, but then she caved in and confessed to Umekichi and me, "It's...it's just that Mrs. Kinoshita said the house would turn icy cold and things would fly around and have even hit her a few times. I've even seen a few kids enter the house once the mother left; they would run away seconds later!"

I turned my head to glance at the abandoned, two-story house for a minute. I repressed the smile which wanted to come out. Ah, the excitement of handling spirits - especially the wild ones - began to run through my body; however, I had to snap out of it before Umekichi and the old lady wondered what was wrong with me.

"Well," I boasted in reply as I looked at her, "don't worry. My friend and I," I motioned to Umekichi with the point of my thumb, "will investigate the place in a moment; so if you want to, we can let you know if it's haunted or not!"

"Oh my, are you...an exorcist?"  
"Hmm, you can say that."

She blinked when I said that. I guess I'd have to wear a robe and carry a cross for her to believe me.

* * *

The snow which continued to fall on this winter morning felt like a nice mood to Umekichi and me reaching the front door of the Kinoshita house; a sort of "serious" atmosphere if I had to explain why I thought that. Umekichi adjusted his scarf with his brows knitted together as though he was completely concentrating.

"You ready to go in there?"  
"Um...I...yeah."  
"_That's_ the spirit! We've got each other, remember that."

He nodded and, from what I could tell, made a small smile with his two front teeth poking. "Got it, Boss."

I slung my Magic Law "book" - might be some people who probably think I'm carrying a bazooka in public and are calling the cops - while I reached a hand to the knob. I wasn't surprised at all that the door was locked. I guess somebody came and locked it up after hearing about kids sneaking in...

"Damn," I mumbled under my breath.

"You're not gonna kick it down like you did those other times, are you?" Umekichi warily asked.

"No, I was drunk during those times _and_ it wasn't on the job. I've got to do this the _formal_ way as an Executioner."  
"Oh."

I removed my hand from the round, chilly doorknob then placed it on the lower section of my Magic Law book. As soon as I heard a part of it sliding, released from its sheath a little, I grabbed the doorknob again. "Magic Law Article number eight," I repeated the words which I've had to do in the past, "I declare for this door to become unlocked!"

As expected, a small glow surrounded the doorknob but soon faded away. It was followed by the sound of the door's lock click. I turned the knob once again, opening the door with success this time. I nudged my head to the inside of the house as my eyes looked over to Umekichi. "Well? Time to go on in and see if there's really somebody occupying the place, Ume."

He nodded with a determined look written on his face. "Okay."

I let him go in first, then I followed him and closed the door behind us. It was now the time to investigate this place thoroughly and dig up the truth with the Kinoshita family, especially Chouko due to her possibly being the ghost who could be haunting the house.

**To be continued**


	3. Article Two: Brief Investigation

**D**isclaimer: The characters featured in this story do not belong to me. They belong to their rightful owners which includes Yoshiyuki Nishi.

Comment/Notes: Quick confession...at first, I thought that there would be a total of seven chapters; however, I've realized that "Chouko Kinoshita" may only contain four or five chapters since their chapters are short (along with the story in general). Again, there will be a disturbing revelation regarding the Kinoshita children which might be too much for some to handle; I'll post the warning on the chapter that features "it".

If you're still reading this story, I'd like to thank you. I know it's pretty shaky, but I'll try fixing this up once my writing has improved.

* * *

For a place that had been abandoned for nearly a year or two, the Kinoshita house sure looked clean and organized. There was little to no dust to be seen, no bugs, no rodents...nothing. Mom Kinoshita must have decided to leave everything behind, even wanting to forget about this place more by relinquishing every bit of item in here. I ran a hand over the wall to my right, feeling the little bumps under my palm.

"Walls are cool," I told Umekichi.

"The walls aren't the only thing..." Umekichi replied as he wrapped his green scarf tighter. "This whole place feels like it, Boss."

"In which way? Whether or haunted?"  
"...you're kidding me."

I grinned to him, chuckling out, "Yeah, I am. I'm feelin' it too."

Ah, I couldn't make the grin go away because of that oh-so-familiar feeling of an unnatural chilly breeze inside of the house. The "breeze" wasn't strong enough for anyone to notice right off the bat...you would have to be completely still to feel the brief air blowing. Ume and I took a few more steps into the place while we glanced at the living room to the left and the dining room to the right.

"Think it's a little funny how the missus decided to leave everything behind?" I asked my partner.

"Bad memories?"  
"Hm, maybe. There's also a chance that it's guilt if the mom _did_ do anything suspicious."  
"But..."

I quirked a brow, humming in a questioning manner.

"A mom," he hesitantly said, "wouldn't kill her kids, would she?"

"To be honest, Ume...it's probably not the best to assume that a mom or wife couldn't commit a horrible crime like murder. Probably the reason why she got off if she was the one who killed her husband."

I wanted to tell Umekichi that hearing about kids getting hurt or killed made me upset, but now wasn't the time since we would be going off trail. What we needed to do was uncover the truth of the matter with whoever was haunting this place. If those kids at the market were right, Chouko Kinoshita was the occupant of the house at the moment.

"_Anyway_," I changed the subject, going back on track with our Magic Law duties, "let's search for Chouko. Let me know if you notice anything, okay?"

"Okay."  
"Good. Let's go."

I motioned Umekichi to follow me into the dining room with the nudge of my head. As soon as I made my way to the long circular table, I spotted ectoplasm on the wooden furniture. One chair in particular seemed to have even more of the fog-like substance on and around it. Made me wonder if this could've been the spot that Chouko sat in for most of her life - or recently. While I couldn't be entirely sure this was Chouko and not her siblings, I told Umekichi that for the moment we'll say it's her. Dumb, I know...but until we see a sign, this is what we'll have to do.

I turned to check on Umekichi who was checking the glass cabinet, but he froze and his face perked.

"What's wrong?"  
"I think I heard something."

As if he knew what I was going to ask next, he lifted a finger and pointed above our heads. That's right...further down the entry, there was a flight of stairs to the second floor. Heh, I guess the spirit knew where to go once we stepped inside. I nodded to him, knowing where the two of us needed to travel to now. Umekichi and I exited the living room, down the hall, and crept up the stairs soundlessly. In horror films, there would be the one stair which creaked under any amount of weight, but thankfully it didn't look like this flight had one-

_(Creak)_

Never mind.

I tried ignoring the tiny creak from under my right foot when it touched the middle step and continued onwards.

That was the case, until the sounds of metal pans crashing could be heard coming from downstairs. I immediately grabbed Umekichi, dragging him back down with me, and then we dashed into the kitchen. Maybe Chouko - or whomever was haunting this place - was located. What we saw, instead, was unsettling...well, to say the least.

Pans and kettles were sprawled onto the ground, but they were not the only things decorating the kitchen tiles. Age-old blood splatters were present: everywhere from the floor and to the sink, counters, and walls. The refrigerator was still here; although, I had a bad feeling about what could possibly be inside. What a gross sight.

"_Damn_..."  
"What...happened h-here?"

"Part of one of the deaths?" I suggested with a shrug. "Heck, this could've been the result of something else."

I knelt down and picked up one of the metal pans, humming to myself at the ectoplasm inside the hollow thing. This pan was also well-loved, showing signs of rust. Since the ghost of Chouko was said to have eaten people, could it be that she cooked and ate them? Was she some sort of...uh, ghost chef? I shook my head at the thought. It wasn't as if I wouldn't wave off an idea of a ghost chef, I just didn't think it fit with this case.

The _mom_ on the other hand...

Umekichi gasped all of a sudden, then he whispered, "Boss, the noise is starting up again!"

"Right. Let's get back to the stairs and finally meet our ghost."  
"Got'cha."  
"And Ume..."

After he took notice of my gesture over my Magic Law "book", he blinked widely then nodded. Within a second, a poof of dust surrounded him, and then he stood there in his true form. To people who didn't know about Magic Law, they would wonder where on earth a giant mouse came from. Thankfully, no one like that was around here...so, I didn't have to explain a thing about Umekichi and this other appearance of his.

"B-better?" he asked me for confirmation.

"Yep. C'mon, we've got to meet our new friend upstairs."

**To be concluded**


End file.
